May We Recommend...

If you’d told me fifteen years ago that Bravo would be one of the cable channels I watched the most, I would have laughed at you. In my defense, fifteen years ago nobody had a clue that Bravo would abandon their schedule of shitty opera performances in favor of shows like Celebrity Poker Showdown, the Queer Eye’s, and Blow Out.

That said, whoever writes the ad copy there needs to be beaten with a hammer.

In running an ad for the execrable Chris Farley / David Spade vehicle “Tommy Boy”, they referred to the insult-to-celluloid as “The Caddyshack of the ’90’s!”

Huh?

It’s a) not about golf, b) not particularly funny, and c) not particularly beloved.

I’ve always thought the idea of brewing your own beer was really cool, but I don’t drink. I do love root beer, though, so when I saw this, my interest was piqued, and a short trip to the grocery later (alas, I had to make do with McCormick’s root beer extract), I was good to go.

And it worked out pretty much as advertised. Sat on the counter for three days, then I put it in the fridge overnight, and poured some today. It’s…interesting. It tastes a LOT more like regular beer (at least, what I remember beer to taste like), which prolly has to do with the fermenation of the sugar by the yeast. Definitely an acquired taste, but it was pretty easy to acquire, if you get my meaning. It’s not nearly as sweet as the stuff you get at the store, either, enough so that I might increase the sugar by 1/4 cup for the next batch just to see what happens.

I dunno if it’s gonna displace Henry Weinhard’s as the best root beer on the planet, but I finally have my own microbrewery! :)

A little while back I made one of my occasional trips to Costco to get things you normally get at Costco. One of my purchases was one of those large boxes that contain an Assortment ‘O’ Chips, for to enjoy with lunch. This particular one apparently contains every product Frito-Lay has ever made: Fritos, Lays, Ruffles, Cheetos, Doritos (in not one but two flavors), the whole deal.

Which brings us to today: I prepared lunch, and selected a bag of Nacho Cheesier! (their words, not mine) Doritos to accompany my meal. And emblazoned boldly on the bag was the phrase “Now Better Tasting!”

And it occurred to me: I’ve seen this claim on bags of Doritos at least five separate times over the course of my life. The R&D department at Frito-Lay must be the busiest in the nation. I fully expect to see a bag in a year or two that says “We Swear, We Got It Right This Time.”

I am forced to conclude that Doritos must have tasted like complete ass in the 70’s.